According to the report from European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), in January 2020, the EU passenger car market contracted by 7.5% to 956,779 units. Major taxation changes announced by some EU member states for 2020 pulled registrations forward into December 2019, explaining this January drop. Other contributing factors included weakening global economic conditions and uncertainty caused by the UK's departure from the European Union.

As a result, demand for new passenger cars in the four major EU markets fell during the first month of 2020. France posted the strongest decline (-13.4%), followed by Spain (-7.6%), Germany (-7.3%) and Italy (-5.9%).